The sign reads, “A Measure of Progress.” Well, ultimately perhaps, but certainly not in the short term. Demolition crews struggled to bring down the National Guard Armory building located on Reserve Avenue in Roanoke and now all that remains in place where the old armory / stadium complex used to be are two “very rough” athletic fields and a pile of rubble.
Once the final debris is removed there are no present plans for the land other than “using the city’s Master Plan to come up with a good use.” Proposals for the old stadium / armory site have included everything from a water park complete with a man made “kayak river” – to specialty shops – to an amphitheater heavily supported by Councilman Dave Trinkle.
Trinkle recently commented that if he had known how difficult it was going to be to get support and a commitment for an amphitheater at the location, he might have voted differently on the Victory Stadium issue.
The fate of the stadium and ultimately the armory seem to be right in line with an unfortunate tendency by Roanoke officials to allow high value city assets to sink into disrepair through continued neglect while resources are spent on what many citizens charge are low priority items. On the list of neglected properties in addition to the now demolished stadium and armory are the City Market Building, the Fishburn Mansion, the Commonwealth Building, Fire Station Number 1, The Buena Vista Recreation Center and the soon to be razed Parks and Recreation building among others.
Regardless of what the present council might desire to do, the city faces a significant budget shortfall going forward and there is no money available to improve what, for all practical purposes, has become a vacant lot. Which begs the question: Why did the City force the National Guard to vacate the building to begin with?
When asked for his thoughts on what has become of the site, former Councilman Brian Wishneff remarked, “I don’t want to say I told you so, but I believe certain chickens are coming home to roost . . .”
